Contents
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Introduction
736.01 Literature > Introduction of photographically illustrated narratives
                                
Tableau vivant were a common part of Victorian popular entertainment and photographers staged scenes from history and mythology to create visual moments that they could market. Turning points in English history such as the Crowning of Henry the Seventh on Bosworth Field and the Death of Thomas a'Becket were re-enacted to be photographed by James Elliott for the "English History Series" of stereocards. Daguerreotypes taken by Paine of Islington were used as a basis for the illustrations of Shakespeare.[1]
Paine of Islington: Illustrated Tallis's Shakespeare (1860)
   
In 1858 Henry Peach Robinson staged a series of photographs to illustrate Little Red Riding Hood and in 1865 Francis Frith took landscape views to illustrate
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Hyperion (1865).[2] Julia Margaret Cameron made albumen prints to illustrate an edition of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Other Poems (1874-1875).[3] The Bible was illustrated by Francis Frith[4] and a book of Biblical quotations by Harold Burdekin.[5] Great poetry, such as that of Pablo Neruda,[6] has been enhanced by appropriate imagery.
Types of narratives
736.02 Literature > Using photographs to illustrate narratives: Mythological
   
736.03 Literature > Using photographs to illustrate narratives: Arthurian
Arthurian stories had been a part of English folklore and legend long before they were recorded in French romances and the compilations of Sir Thomas Malory in the fifteenth century. William Caxton published Le Morte d'Arthur in 1485 so these were a thread within the Victorian imagination as photography became popular. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) breathed fresh life into the tales with his cycle of twelve poems The Idylls of the King (1859-1885). Tennyson was a popular poet and was appointed Poet Laureate in 1850. The poetry of the age with the exploits and loves of Sir Lancelot, King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and the power of Merlin along with the original sources were Salon based genre-painting[7] and popular photography. Dressing up in costume for plays and tableau vivant was a feature of nineteenth century house parties and photographers such as Henry Peach Robinson[8] and Julia Margaret Cameron[9] took staged photographs that portrayed moments from the stories.
Julia Margaret Cameron, who was a friend of Tennyson,[10] took the photographs for an edition of Idylls of the King and Other Poems (1874-1875).[11]
736.04 Literature > Using photographs to illustrate narratives: Historical
   
736.05 Literature > Using photographs to illustrate narratives: Shakespearean
          
Paine of Islington in London took daguerreotypes of Shakespearean actors which were used as the basis for engravings published by John Tallis & company in the middle of the nineteenth century.[12]
736.06 Literature > Using photographs to illustrate narratives: Dickensian
Photographers
736.07 Literature > Henry Peach Robinson: Little Red Riding Hood
About this photographer | Photographs by this photographer
Henry Peach Robinson prepared a series of four photographs in 1858 to illustrate the folktale of "Little Red Riding Hood".[13]
- Her Mother having only one day made some cakes, said to Little Red Riding Hood, "I hear your poor old Grandma has been ailing; so, prithee, go and see if she be any better, and take her these cakes and a pot of butter.''
- ''Who is there?' said the Wolf. 'It is me, your own little grandchild', the artless little girl replied, 'I have brought you some nice cakes and a little pot of butter.' The Wolf, softening his voice as much as he could, said 'Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up.''
- Little Red Riding Hood then went and drew back the curtain, when she was much surprised to see how oddly her Grandmother looked in her nightclothes!
- Little Red Riding Hood hastened home to tell her mother all that had befallen her; nor did she forget that night to thank heaven fervently having delivered her from the jaws of the Wolf
The series was shown at the 1859 Photographic Society and could be purchased for 5 shillings.[14]
736.08 Literature > Francis Frith: Illustrations for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Hyperion (1865)
About this photographer | Photographs by this photographer
        
Francis Frith is best known for his views of Egypt, his photographically-illustrated books on Egypt, Sinai and Palestine[15] and the company he established that became a major seller of postcards and illustrated books on different regions especially within Great Britain. Frith had also used his photographs to illustrate editions of the Holy Bible.[16]
In 1865 Francis Frith spent six weeks travelling down the Rhine viewing the landscapes and visiting the cities and points of interest along the way in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.[17] He used the photographs he took along the route to illustrate the novel Hyperion by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which had been published in 1839 by Samuel Coleman, incidently 1839 was the year photography publicly announced. In the novel the fictional character Paul Flemming travels through Germany whilst pondering his own revelations on nature, romanticism and his religious belief. The passages within the novel led Longfellow enthusiasts to use it as a travel guide to accompany them on their own journeys within Germany. The photographs of Francis Frith attempt to capture both the locations and the mood of the novel.
Fotonovelas
736.09 Literature > Peruvian Fotonovelas
         
Fotonovelas in the Spanish language countries of South America were partially a response to the lack of availability of foreign books, magazines and comics. Using a series of photographic stills, as if taken from a B-movie,[18] text was added to construct a narrative. Frequently printed on poor quality paper and having soap opera styling fotonovelas were extremely popular.[19][20]
Footnotes
- Λ William Shakespeare & William Charles Macready, 1860, Illustrated Tallis's Shakespeare, (London & New York: J. Tallis & Co.) A six volume series containing engravings based on daguerreotypes by Paine of Islington, Mayall, and McClees & Germon.
- Λ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1865, Hyperion, (London) [Third edition. Illustrated with twenty-four photographs of the Rhine, Switzerland, and the Tyrol, by F. Frith.]
- Λ Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1874-1875, Idylls of the King and Other Poems, (London: Henry S. King & co.) [Two volumes. Photographic illustrations by Julia Margaret Cameron]
- Λ The two editions of the Holy Bible illustrated with photographs by Francis Frith are:
1860 - E. Eyre & W. Spottiswoode
1862-1863 - Glasgow: W. Mackenzie
- Λ Harold Burdekin, 1939, The Secret: Photographs illustrating Biblical texts, (E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc)
- Λ Photographs by Martin Chambi His photographs of the Inca city of Macchu Picchu were used to illustrate Pablo Neruda’s 1954 book of poems - Pablo Neruda, 1954, Alturas de Macchu Picchu, (Santiago de Chile: Nascimento).
- Λ William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John William Waterhouse, Frank Cadogan Cowper, John Collier, Edward Burne-Jones and other Pre-Raphaelite artists painting Arthurian themes.
- Λ H.P. Robinson, 1869, Pictorial Effect in Photography: Being Hints on Composition and Chiaroscuro for Photographers. To which is added a chapter on Combination Printing, (London: Piper & Carter) [British editions: 1869, 1879, 1881, 1893.; American: 1881, 1892; French: 1885; German:1886. Reprinted with an introduction by Robert A. Sobieszek (Pawley: Helios, 1971)
- Λ For a catalogue raisonné of the photographs of Julia Margaret Cameron - Julian Cox & Colin Ford, 2003, Julia Margaret Cameron: The Complete Photographs, (Los Angeles: Getty Publications)
For the album Julia Margaret Cameron gave to her friend Sir John Herschel - Colin Ford, 1975, The Cameron Collection: An Album of Photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron Presented to Sir John Herschel, (Workingham, England: Van Nostrand Reinhold, in association with the National Portrait Gallery, London)
Julia Margaret Cameron, 1874, Annals of My Glass House (Unfinished manuscript); Reprinted in full in - Violet Hamilton, 1996, Annals of my glass house: photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron, (Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery), p. 15; Also reprinted in - Beaumont Newhall, 1980, "Annals of my Glass House" IN, Photography: Essays and Images, (New York: Museum of Modern Art)
- Λ Julia Margaret Cameron photographed Tennyson on multiple occassions with one of her photographs the "Dirty Monk", taken in 1865, being a particular favourite.
Julia Margaret Cameron, "Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Dirty Monk)", 1865 (taken) 1893 (ca, print), Photogravure, 23.2 x 19.6 cm, Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mrs. James Ward Thorne, 1961.871c
Julia Margaret Cameron, "Alfred Tennyson (The Dirty Monk)", 1865, Albumen print, Metropolitan Museum of Art
David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1966
- Λ Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1874-1875, Idylls of the King and Other Poems, (London: Henry S. King & co.) [Two volumes. Photographic illustrations by Julia Margaret Cameron]
- Λ The location of the original daguerreotypes by Paine of Islington is not known and any information on their whereabouts would be appreciated - alan@luminous-lint.com
- Λ Little Red Riding Hood is a popular European folktale - Aarne-Thompson classification system, no. 333; Jacques Berlioz, 2007, Il faut sauver Le petit chaperon rouge, (Les Collections de L'Histoire) no. 36, p. 63
- Λ Photographic Exhibitions in Britain 1839-1865 - Created by Roger Taylor
(Accessed: 3 November 2013)
peib.dmu.ac.uk/
- Λ There are multiple versions of books by Francis Frith and as they included tipped-in plates the illustrations can vary between copies. Some of the books are undated making a full listing with dates a challenge. If you have a listing I'd be most grateful - alan@luminous-lint.com
- Λ The two editions of the Holy Bible illustrated with photographs by Francis Frith are:
1860 - E. Eyre & W. Spottiswoode
1862-1863 - Glasgow: W. Mackenzie
- Λ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1865, Hyperion, (London) [Third edition. Illustrated with twenty-four photographs of the Rhine, Switzerland, and the Tyrol, by F. Frith.]
- Λ In 1894 an American feature-length performance entitled "Miss Jerry" was distributed by Alexander Black Photoplays in the USA. The performance used magic lantern slides shown through a dissolving stereopticon and was accompanied with music and narration. There are similarities in the storytelling of images and narrative between this type of performance and fotonovellas.
Miss Jerry (1894) - Wikipedia
(Accessed: 25 April 2014)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Jerry
With thanks to Theodoros Natsinas for bringing this to my attention.
- Λ The exhibition "El Lenguaje del Amor: Fotonovela Perunana 1950-1980"curated by Daniel Contreras a part of "La II Bienal de Fotografía de Lima" was held at the Museo Metropolitano de Lima (21 April - 25 May 2014)
- Λ I'd like to hear from anybody who has carried out research into fotonovelas, the publishers, distribution and stories - alan@luminous-lint.com
alan@luminous-lint.com |
  
General reading
Beckman, Karen & Weissberg, Liliane (eds.), 2013, On Writing with Photography, (University of Minnesota Press) isbn-10: 0816677298 isbn-13: 978-0816677290 [Δ]
Edwards, Paul, 2008, Soleil noir: Photographie et littérature dès origines au surréalisme, (Presse Universitaires de Rennes) [Δ]
Readings on, or by, individual photographers
Laure Albin-Guillot
Albin-Guillot, Laure, 1946, Suite d'illustrations pour Le Grand Meaulnes d'Alain Fournier, (Paris: Henri Colas éditeur / Bordeaux: Rousseau Frères) [Δ]
Julia Margaret Cameron
Tennyson, Alfred Lord, 1874-1875, Idylls of the King and Other Poems, (London: Henry S. King & co.) [Two volumes. Photographic illustrations by Julia Margaret Cameron] [Δ]
Francis Frith
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1865, Hyperion, (London) [Third edition. Illustrated with twenty-four photographs of the Rhine, Switzerland, and the Tyrol, by F. Frith.] [Δ]
Simon Marsden
Marsden, Simon, 1988, Visions of Poe, (Knopf) isbn-10: 0394574273 isbn-13: 978-0394574271 [Δ]
Duane Michals
Michals, Duane, 1970, Sequences, (New York: Doubleday) [Δ]
Michals, Duane, 1976, Real Dreams: Photostories by Duane Michals, (Danbury, NH: Matrix Publishers) [Δ]
Christian Patterson
Patterson, Christian, 2011, Redheaded Peckerwood, (Mack) isbn-10: 1907946144 isbn-13: 978-1907946141 [Δ]
Henry Fox Talbot
Talbot, William Henry Fox, 1845, Sun Pictures in Scotland, (London) [Δ]
If you feel this list is missing a significant book or article please let me know - Alan - alan@luminous-lint.com
Thomas Annan (1829-1887) • Fred Boissonnas • Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) • James Elliott • Abelardo Morell (1948-) • William Lake Price (1810-1896) • Henry Peach Robinson (1830-1901) • Alfred Silvester • Clarence H. White (1871-1925) • George Washington Wilson (1823-1893) | Home > Themes > Literature > Narratives
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